Disney World Tests Be Our Guest Restaurant FastPass+ and Pre-Order System

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UPDATE: Please note that as of February 25, 2015, FastPass+ is no longer available, as Be Our Guest Restaurant began to accept Advanced Dining Reservations for lunch. For further information, please click here.

Finally! A FastPass for Food!!!

For those who aren’t huge fans of waiting in 30-90 minute lines for a quick service lunch, there may be relief on the horizon — at least for Be Our Guest Restaurant patrons in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom!

This is part of the new MyMagic+ program that is being rolled out in Disney World this year.

To date, Disney has chosen testers randomly — usually from the Magical Express line at Orlando International Airport or while checking in to a Disney World resort hotel.

The system is currently not open to all guests — only to those randomly selected for the testing process. It does seem that you need to be staying at a Disney resort hotel to be chosen.

Be Our Guest Restaurant FastPass+ Process

So here’s how the whole thing works:

Be Our Guest Restaurant Pre-Order System
when a guest is selected to take part in the testing process, he or she is given a card with a registration website and reservation number. The guest logs into the website (with their DisneyWorld.com user ID and password) and chooses an arrival time for lunch. The guest then is (sometimes) offered the option of choosing a “FastPass+ Direct to Table” option, or a “FastPass+ Expedited Arrival” option.

If Direct to Table is chosen, guests will proceed to pre-order the meal they would like at Be Our Guest Restaurant for lunch. Screens pop up on the computer that are similar to the kiosk ordering screens at Be Our Guest.

Ordering via kiosk at Be Our Guest

Once your meal is chosen, you’re good to go! If you choose the Expedited Arrival option, you’ll still need to order your meal with a cast member once you arrive at Be Our Guest for lunch. (Check out our Be Our Guest Restaurant Lunch Review here if you need some ideas of what to order… .)

Check-In and Arrival for Your Be Our Guest Meal
Guests are given the option of checking in for their lunch at City Hall in the Magic Kingdom, or at FastPass machines near the Mickey’s Philharmagic attraction in Fantasyland.

When checking in, guests will give their card and reservation number to the cast member. The cast member will then give the guest a plastic yellow rose that contains all of their pre-order information. (These look like the red roses given to guests at Be Our Guest Restaurant with their lunch orders. The rose is basically a system that allows your food to find you when you’re sitting down in the restaurant.)

Be Our Guest Restaurant Check-In Area — Bring your Yellow Rose Here!

When the arrival time opens, the guest will bring the rose to the Be Our Guest Restaurant check-in desk at the end of the bridge to Beast’s Castle and will soon be escorted right past the throngs of people waiting in line to eat. Payment is made via Key to the World card with a cast member before entering the restaurant. If the guest did not pre-order, they will need to wait for a cast member to take their order at that time.

Basically, it works just like other Disney attraction FastPass systems to bypass lines and make your touring day quicker and easier.

FastPass to your Food!

What’s Next for Be Our Guest Restaurant FastPass+ System?

We have no idea if the Be Our Guest Restaurant FastPass+ system will be open to all guests soon or not. Testing has been going on for months, so I’m eager to see if this is a concept that will be rolled out for everyone in the coming months as MyMagic+ is expanded.

Have you been selected as a tester for the new Be Our Guest FastPass system? Let us know your experience in the comments below!

39 Comments

We tested FP+ during our December trip. We loved it! We had a late morning at HS and still got to ride TSM, we walked onto Enchanted Tales with Belle and Little Mermaid with no wait. I personally cannot wait until it’s implemented for real. We hope to use it for BoG in September, since we couldn’t grab a dinner ADR. Fingers crossed it’s started by then!!

Ok, that’s really, really cool. I can’t wait for it to be implemented for real. I can’t think of any other restaurant that would need this system, but I wonder if any others will be getting it? Though that will mean having to incorporate a “rose” system for the others, I suppose.

Tracy, it looks like it is a random test right now, not being distributed as a particular perk. If you stay at an on site hotel, you could also be chosen when you check-in, not just at the airport. It’s not about rewarding guests who visit a lot (our 20th visit will be this December), but about testing the system before they roll it out generally. We also drive due to autism, and I took my son last year for lunch. We waited about 25 minutes in line before they opened the doors, then ordered our meal and were seated having a nice cold drink within 45 minutes of getting in what looked to be a long line. The dining areas are quite large, so even if you don’t get chosen for a FP, it is still doable, especially if you go early when they first open.

A reservation by any other name is a reservation, and this is just using the MyMagic+ system to make dining reservations. When “+” rolls out they will have to be able to provide selections to people who may be booking late. When a person books a weekend in advance and the rides are gone people will still be able to book a meal like this one and get their advertised experience.

I don’t care how good the food is. I’m not waiting in a one hour line for quick service. Hopefully this means that the Columbia Harbor House will not be packed when I go.

My wife and I were part of the testing back in January. We were asked if we were staying on property and they swiped one of our cards for verification. We ordered outside, were given a “rose”, and were seated right away. Our food came out so quick that we didn’t have time to take pictures before we ate. I’m pretty sure the fact that it was just us helped in getting picked. The food was really good, but I wasn’t going to wait an hour for it.

For all the naysayers of waiting half an hour or 45 minutes in line for lunch, please try it at least once before you dis BoG. As a local who goes to WDW all the time, I’ve seen 25+ minute waits during busy seasons to order at Pecos Bills or Cosmic Rays for burgers and the food at BoG is far superior (real silverware to boot) and no comparison to any other counter service. Additionally, being able to experience the theming of all 3 dining rooms is well worth the half hour wait. Now that I’m thinking about it, the more of you who stay away because of the lines make it better for those of us who enjoy the ambience and food at BoG!!!! I’ll take BoG any day!!!

The food quality is no better, it’s just different, which is fine. We waited less than 15 minutes at 12:30 on 6/29. The West Wing is cool. The ballroom is noisy and crowded and the ‘library’ is poorly decorated. Those of you falling in live with this system already haven’t thought the whole thing through. No capacities are being increased, if one person is “+ing” their way to the front of the line, others are simply waiting longer. Sometimes, that will be you. It’s great during a test because so few are on it you can get whatever you want when you want it. Good luck when the floodgates open. Disney knows this, that’s why they are adding FP to things that don’t need it. That way they’ll have something to give you when you can’t get into BoG or TSM.

We were part of the Be Our Guest fast pass testing back in May. We were visiting for my 25th birthday and stayed at the Contemporary Resort. We were not chosen randomly. While checking-in, the cast member helping us asked us if we’d got all the dining reservations we wanted. We told her that we weren’t able to get into BOG and she gave us the fast pass. We had to order our food online. We used the fast pass for lunch on my birthday. The system worked well. We bypassed the line and were escorted in. Our order was correct. I thought the system worked well and was happy to use it.

I’m with Ryan. I am not a fan of all this pre planning stuff they are trying to roll out. If BoG is that busy and hard to get into, maybe they need to look at improving the other food choices around the park. Offer better choices and better dining experiences all around and BoG won’t be so crazy busy.

I’m just wondering what the “+” for the MY EXPERIENCE and/or FAST PASS will cost…will it be an “add on” option for the park tickets? I’d still probably do it as those long lines at my age just are not an option. Just will have to budget more for our trips.

I realize there are many people who are able to visit the parks frequently and my guess is that Disney didn’t invent this new system for them. For those of us who live far away or even can’t financially afford a trip to WDW more than once every couple of years (or less) this system is a blessing. When your time in the park is limited the last thing you want to be doing is standing in a line waiting to eat so anything that speeds that up is very much welcomed. Maybe eating at this particular restaurant is pretty “ordinary” to those who go often, but for those of us who don’t, we aren’t as critical. We enjoy the opportunity to dine in such a lovely new place and don’t want to have to sacrifice precious park/eating time by waiting in long lines.

Matt’s point is well taken:
“No capacities are being increased, if one person is “+ing” their way to the front of the line, others are simply waiting longer. Sometimes, that will be you. It’s great during a test because so few are on it you can get whatever you want when you want it. Good luck when the floodgates open.”

I’m really worried about losing ALL of the magic of a Disney trip! You won’t be able to do anything spontaneously anymore.

My family and I participated in the trial at the Be Our Guest restaurant in early June. We loved it! While making the arrangements for our trip several months prior, we inquired about reservations at the new restaurant. We were told there was a six month wait so we knew we didn’t have a prayer! We were thrilled when they asked us to try out the program. The food was good, the service excellent and the atmosphere great. It worked for us!

Since it is like fastpass I assume it will always be available only to guests staying on property. The ability to order ahead of time seems like a good idea. It could make things faster for everyone. Those who wait in line to order will have that many fewer people in front of them at the ordering kiosk.

No Maggie, they will wait at least as long, and probably longer. Even though the pre-order person isn’t standing in front of them, that person’s food order is still in front of them. Just as the attractions with FP have slower moving standby lines than attractions without FP. This I easy to see when you compare WDW attractions with FP to their DL counterparts that don’t have it. Buzz, TSM, and Peter Pan are perfect examples.

Also, remember that word is you will get 3 FP+ opportunities a day. Use it for BoG and you’ve got two left for Space Mt., Splash Mt., Peter Pan, Mermaid, Pooh, Fireworks, Parade, Storytime with Belle, and all the others. Why do you think they are adding FP to attractions that don’t need it, like Captain EO and It’s Tough to be a Bug? Because those are sometimes going to be your only remaining choices. Everybody is going to snap up the good ones early.

I wonder if it will affect the number of FPs available at the kiosks for those who race to get there early…? Or are the kiosks going away? Some of them, like TSM, “sell” out pretty early in the day as it is…if there are less available to begin with, sounds like a lot more folks will be standing in the long lines. Unless of course, they buy the FP+….marketing genius?

What people are not exactly understanding about FP+ is that it gives Disney MUCH better control of the lines. Besides the fact that they will know where people are by their Magicbands, they are having control over at least a portion of the guests and where they go/what they do during the day. This means if, say, Splash Mountain is particularly busy right after the 3pm parade, they will issue less FP+ during 3:45-4:15, giving both guests waiting in line a chance at less people cutting in, as well as allowing Disney to redistribute guests into other parts of the park.

Trust in the Mouse, trust in the Imagineers. They know what they are doing and have not steered us wrong yet.

oo, that would be wonderful if there was no additional charge for the FP+….Thanks, Courtney! We always stay on property and do the park hopper and dining plan…would be great if there was an added bonus of FP+!! Can’t want until they implement this!

oo, that would be wonderful if there was no additional charge for the FP+….Thanks, Courtney! We always stay on property and do the park hopper and dining plan…would be great if there was an added bonus of FP+!! Can’t wait until they implement this!

Not sure how I feel about this. It’s bad enough that you have to make reservations 6 months in advance for a table service meal and now we’re looking at the same thing for a “quick service” lunch. It’s taking all of the spontaneity out of vacation time. Which is what I look forward to, since my job is planning and managing to tasks and timelines.

I am getting sick of all this + stuff with Disney. I will not order my food before I get to the restaurant, I will not book a time to ride a ride. Disney is stressful enough trying to book ADR’s, deciding where and when I am going to be. Now I have to plan what I am eating and what time I will ride a ride. this is INSANE and someone at Disney needs to see this.
I will give, getting a fasspass for a popular restaurant can work, but not in advance. The fastpass should be like it is now, you go to the restaurant get a fast pass for a time that is available next. NOT Pre fastpass and ordering!

This is basically what the Disney dining plan was tempting to do. With the dining plan of at least one table service a day it was trying to get people to do the reservations and help gauge the crowds and have people plan their days. I am a planner. I know which way we are going when we get in the gate, where to make our breakfast reservation so my daughter can do the Jedi experience or be the first in line in fantasy land. We make dinner reservations so that we have a great view over at Epcot too. Some people want to do Disney and wing it but for others who don’t let us plan and use these tools. If you rather not plan everything out then don’t complain if you don’t get to do something because I see way to much of that too.

You know, you don’t have to pre-plan! The wait in line option is still available if you choose to eat at BOG. I’ve eaten there once, when they first opened. My husband and sons didn’t enjoy waiting in line, but they did. We all enjoyed the meal, and would love to go back. We are returning in November and hoping that the fastpass+ system will be up and running for BOG. But, for everyone saying they are sick of having to plan so far in advance – it is an OPTION, not a requirement!

Perhaps they should invest more in development. FP+ is an ok idea, but it doesn’t fix the problem that the parks change so little that people flock to the 1-2 new things that arrive every few years.

Their profits have never been higher, they need to put a LOT more of those dollars back into the parks before people get bored of them. They need to expand, build new lands, refresh existing areas. Ancient rides like It’s a Small World need to go away and be replaced by more modern rides themed for kids of our current generation, not three generations ago.

They have so much unused land that it’s silly they don’t do more.

They aim to create a few new “lands” in the near future but if they are anything like the new fantasy land – no thanks! The new fantasy land was fun for my kids for about 45 minutes.

We are on way home & did test yesterday. Got email invitation, checked in right at restaurant & no rose involved. Just told us to sit anywhere in 3 rooms & found us with per-ordered meal within 5 minutes. Assumed they found us by MagicBand, but when we asked how they found us they said “Magic!” Very smooth & very cool.